[|Zach|]

COLUMBIA | The Big 12’s best football team, the one-loss BCS squad with the best defeat, played its best ball in several decades on Saturday and issued a strong message that it wants to be in the who’s-the-nation’s-best debate.

If you don’t know, now you know: Gary Pinkel’s Missouri Tigers are pretty damn good, top-10 good, BCS-bowl good.

Just ask Mike Leach and his 22nd-ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders. The Tigers stomped Tech 41-10 at Faurot Field in a game that was absolutely as one-sided as the final score indicates.

Anyone worried the Tigers might be hung over from their disappointing, giveaway loss to the Oklahoma Sooners last weekend had their concerns alleviated early on Saturday. Missouri’s defense, an outfit scheduled for a stern test against a Tech offense that came in averaging 50 points, opened the scoring by picking off a Graham Harrell pass and dashing 38 yards for six points on Tech’s first possession.

The romp was on.

And when it was over, after the Tigers’ D had produced four interceptions and its normally-pass-happy O had grinded out 212 rushing yards, I began to ponder the real possibility that the Tigers are national-title contenders — at least until further notice.

Seriously, why not the Tigers?

No one doubts their offense. Chase Daniel and Mizzou’s receivers can move the football on any team in the country. The Tigers, even with Tony Temple sidelined, are starting to demonstrate a running game. Jeremy Maclin gives the Tigers a special-teams playmaker.

Nope. The questions about Mizzou centered on the defense. Could the Tigers stop a legitimate offense? Well, Leach and the Red Raiders know how to score points. On Saturday, they pretty much refused to punt the football, going for it seven times on fourth down.

Missouri never buckled. They harassed Harrell, sacking him three times, forcing him into several terrible throws. The Tigers punished Tech’s receivers. They eliminated Tech’s running game, holding the Red Raiders to minus-9 yards on the ground.

On a day when Missouri scored 41 points and rushed for three touchdowns, Chase Daniel couldn’t contain his defensive excitement.

“How ‘bout the defense?” Daniel remarked when a reporter asked about Missouri’s running game.

Moments later Daniel added: “If the defense plays this well every single week, the sky is the limit.”

No doubt. Pinkel was equally impressed. He said he expected the Tigers’ athletic and inexperienced defense to improve over the course of the season. But I’m not sure he expected the Tigers’ defensive unit to ever outperform his offense.

“I have to say it was a pretty darn good performance on defense,” Pinkel glowed.

Yeah, the Tigers are all grown up now. Last week’s showdown with Oklahoma helped the Tigers realize they can be a great team. Pinkel said he told his team not to take any satisfaction in the close loss to the Sooners (41-31).

“If you want to get to the top of the mountain, you can’t think that way,” Pinkel told his team.

The warning registered.

“We should’ve won that football game,” Daniel said. “(The OU game) just validated where we’re at.”

Nah, this Tech victory validated Missouri’s climb to elite status. It legitimized what Missouri demonstrated last week. It’s easy to get up for Oklahoma. It’s difficult to play at a high-high level on back-to-back weekends. The Sooners looked terrible against Iowa State on Saturday.

The Tigers should run their record to 9-1 over the next three weeks — Iowa State, at Colorado and Texas A&M. By then, Mizzou should be in the top 10. If the Tigers beat Kansas State, Kansas and Oklahoma in the Big 12 title game, they’d be 12-1 and in the national-title hunt.

No way I saw this coming when they squeaked by Illinois. This is a tremendous story, a tale loyal Missouri football fans deserve.